§ Mr. KirkwoodTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will take steps to change the existing legislation governing eligibility for pension as a result of war injuries to enable discretion to be exercised, in exceptional circumstances, where former service men or service women who were wounded on active service make late claims, to allow those claims to be backdated to the date of their original injury, where the circumstances suggest that they were not made aware of their entitlement to claim when their injuries were sustained.
§ Miss WiddecombeAwards of war disablement pensions are normally paid from the date of claim. Where a person is invalided from the armed forces a claim for war pension is automatically instituted. There is no onus on the individual to claim in such circumstances. When people are otherwise discharged from the armed forces the onus is on them to claim any war pension to which they think they may be entitled; on discharge they are provided as a matter of routine with information about claiming a war pension.
War pensions legislation already provides discretion to award war pension from a date earlier than the date of claim, where the circumstances of the case are considered to be exceptional. Awards may not, in any case, be paid before a service man or service woman leaves the armed forces.